


Shadow the Hedgehog's Dilemma

by CoreyWW



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anger, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comedy, Depression, Dramedy, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Funny, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slice of Life, Social Networking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW
Summary: “Were you in one of your moods again?” she asked.Shadow didn’t reply, which was as much of a yes as Rouge ever got from him. She let out a heavy sigh.“Shadow, this is getting serious,” she said. “I thought getting you a place out of the way from everyone would give you time to think and I know that's what you said you wanted but ... this doesn’t seem to be helping. You need to be around people.”Shadow groaned, shook his head, and started past her.“Don’t walk away from me!” she shouted.“Fine. I felt like running anyway,” he said.“Oh don’t be that way!”--------[After a fateful call from Eggman, Shadow's depression reaches its lowest point. Not willing to let him fall further, Rouge and Sonic arrange a plan to pull him out of it ... by forcing him to interact with all the friends he ignored for so long. Shadow may be perpetually grumpy and antisocial but really, what's the worst that could happen?A comedy/dramedy staring Shadow interacting with other Sonic characters. Takes place in a divergent, hodgepodge continuity taking elements and characters from different Sonic games, comics, shows, etc.]
Relationships: Amy Rose & Cream the Rabbit, Amy Rose & Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik & Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik & Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat & Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat/Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog
Kudos: 10





	Shadow the Hedgehog's Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

> The continuity in this story is basically a mishmash taking elements from different Sonic media. If I'm being honest, it's essentially an excuse for me to use all the Sonic stuff I enjoy, from the overall focus of humor in the Sonic Boom show to the events of the Sonic Adventure games to the extremely involved (albeit sometimes out-there) lore from the Archie comics.
> 
> I tried to make it so you didn't really need to have pre-existing knowledge of any particular Sonic media to really "get" what's going on, but if I had to point to one thing that's probably good to know, the plot of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are by far the most referenced work just in terms of the overall premise making sense. Even so you can probably get by with just general knowledge of Shadow's backstory from that specific game.
> 
> I'm definitely planning on continuing this though my updates may be infrequent just due to real life obligations. If you enjoy this, please be sure to let me know. I've enjoyed Sonic most of my life but this is my first earnest attempt at doing fic in this fandom, oddly enough. Hope you like it.

Shadow awoke from uneasy dreams at three in the morning, as usual. When he noticed the time on his phone, he groaned and stared at the ceiling.

“... I could have let this planet get destroyed,” Shadow mumbled grumpily. “Could have just let it blow up from the space station falling but _noooo_...”

He ran a gloved hand on his face and twisted over on the mashed-flat pillow. He pulled his thin black blanket over his head, trying his best to settle into the sunken-in bare mattress. Shadow didn’t have any sheets, at least none he had ever put on. Rouge had brought him some black sheets _she_ found nice (she had mentioned repeatedly they were _satin_ with emphasis, as if that meant anything to Shadow), but they were still in the packaging somewhere in his cottage, along with most of the things Rouge brought to “spruce up” his new home. He didn’t see much of the point. The bedroom, like most of his simple house in the Green Hills, was largely bare. Shadow didn’t believe in such trivialities as sheets or decorations or rugs or carpeting. Impractical. Unnecessary. Not worth his time. 

After all, he had slept in a tube for fifty years; he could do without.

He pulled his blanket down, eyes falling blankly on the bare white walls. He looked at his phone again and sighed. The familiar dull ache in his head hammered home that sleep was not going to return.

 _... maybe I should actually put some of that stuff Rouge got up_ , he thought. _Give me something different to stare at while not sleeping._ But he only considered this for a moment before he shook his head and sat up. 

He scrolled through his phone, another gift from Rouge. ( _I’m sure she got all this disposable income from entirely legitimate means,_ he thought with a dry chuckle.) The phone had frustrated him at first, but he warmed up to it once he realized he only had to use it to check the time and see all the voicemails and messages he had that he could subsequently ignore, which is what he did now.

There were voicemails, almost old ones from Rouge he’d already heard. There was a text from Sonic of all people that Shadow hadn’t even bothered to open. Maybe he would later today or tomorrow or next week or something. Maybe. He scrolled further ...

He raised an eyebrow. There was a voicemail with the contact name “Eggman.” Which is remarkable because Shadow did _not_ add Eggman as a contact in his phone. He moved his finger over to delete it ... but hesitated.

Seeing the name Eggman made him think, in some tangential way, of Maria ...

Shadow felt his heartbeat quicken just a minute. He shook his head. No, he was over such past ... _unpleasantness_ . The death (or state-authorized _murder_ at the hands of G.U.N. _,_ rather) of his old friend didn’t affect him at all anymore. It was fifty years ago. He was past that. He no longer had such attachments, such bitterness, such regrets. None. He was _fine_.

Shadow played the message. _It’d be good for a laugh_ , he told himself.

The message played on speaker and he heard the boisterous voice of the doctor.

“ _Shadow! What a small world! I just happened to be combing every cell phone carrier’s databases of private information when I came across your number! It is I, Doctor Eggman, your old friend and future ruler of the all-encompassing Eggman Empire--”_

Shadow moved his finger back to the delete button.

“ _DON’T DELETE THIS YET!”_ the doctor said abruptly.

Shadow glared, but stopped.

“ _Listen Shadow ... I know we’ve had our ups and downs. We try to take over the world together, you almost die, I make a bunch of synthetic skinned androids identical to you without your consent, there’s a bit of friction there. But I think we should let bygones be bygones!”_

Shadow turned away with a snort. “Not likely,” he muttered.

“ _Now if I know you well enough, I assume you’ve just laughed and made some sarcastic comment--”_

“Oh come on, I am not _that_ predictable,” Shadow grumbled.

“ _\--and now you’re likely more annoyed that I knew you’d do that.”_

“How are you even doing tha--”

“ _BUT! Despite our differences, I know you are a professional. And I know we worked well together, for a time. And when we worked towards a common goal,_ you _felt fulfilled.”_

Shadow folded his arms, his hands gripping his arms tighter than he meant.

“ _Look at yourself,”_ Eggman tisked. “ _Is wasting away in this house, alone, in the middle of nowhere ... is that a fate befitting the Ultimate Life Form? Is THIS the sum total of my grandfather’s life’s work? You deserve better and we both know it.”_

Shadow’s teeth gritted.

“ _I’ve got some plans in the works, Shadow. BIG plans. The Eggman Empire has limitless growth potential and we could be at the top of the pyramid, you and me ... well, not at the very top for you of course, I’m at the top, that’s how being an emperor works. But you’d be only one step down and that’s nothing to sneeze at! And besides, isn’t having a successful, fulfilling life for yourself really what Maria wanted? Think abou--”_

At the mention of Maria’s name, Shadow slammed his fist down on the phone, shattering the screen with a loud _crack_. The phone crackled, the message distorted as it went on.

“ _\--also I feel I should mention in the event you just smashed your phone, that database I cracked said your warranty is expired. If it’ll grease the wheels, I can get that fixed up for you, if you happen to change your mind. Toodles!”_

The phone dimmed. Shadow didn’t bother to check if it still worked after. There wasn’t much he bothered to do period.

He simply sat on his bed, heart pounding, eyes staring miles and decades away ...

* * *

“ _Shadow!”_ Rouge shouted, slamming her white gloved hand on the door of his cottage. She flapped her wings, sending cool gusts of air down her back as she propelled to the window. “ _I know you’re in there!”_ She quickly folded her wings back, thudding hard against the ground. A bit of a wobble back to her feet and a slightly scuffed heel was all it cost her; were she at work, spying for GUN, she might have cared about the dent in her image, but at a time like this ..

“You’re doing you’re shut-in thing, you can’t be anywhere else ...” she said under her breath as she stared at the cottage. There was no answer, no sounds from inside at all. Worse yet, not a single light appeared to be on inside. It was a bright day, true, but Shadow at times acted like he was allergic to sunlight, like a vampire without the social skills or market over-saturation. 

Maybe he was just asleep, she thought. That was probably it. There was nothing to worry about. Come on, it was Shadow. He was tough and capable and ...

And completely insular and incapable of asking for help if he needed it.

Rouge, being a spy and a thief who lived on the edge, shook her head. There was no way thoughts like this would shake _her_ . She hadn’t climbed the ranks of GUN to be one of the Commander’s top agents for nothing. _Get it together_ , she thought, biting her lip.

She pulled her phone out of her black leotard. She tried calling again. No answer. 

Now that she thought about it ... she couldn’t hear the phone ring from inside either. And she would have if it had rung; she was a _bat_.

She gulped, then shouted, “ _Alright Shadow! I’m gonna count to three and then I’m going to break in! You know I can do it too!”_

No response.

“ONE! ... TWO! ... It’s gonna be the bad kind of break in too! Not being gentle on this one!” She raised a leg in front of her, her muscles tensing. It wasn’t gonna be pretty when she saw him, she decided, making her go through all this. Cause he was completely fine. _He was_.

There was still no answer.

“Alright! Thre--”

“ _Hey Rouge_!”

Rouge yelped as she jerked around, swinging her leg out to knock Sonic right in the torso. She felt his body give, but just for a moment, as the blue hedgehog groaned loudly, clutching his abdomen.

“ _Ooh_ ... that is gonna hurt tomorrow ...” Sonic wheezed.

Rouge blinked, only then able to process what just happened.

“S-Sonic?” She scowled at him. “ _Don’t sneak up on me like that_!”

“Yep that ... that totally justifies the cracked rib ...” Sonic coughed. He staggered theatrically, as if he were about to collapse. “Nooot an overreaction at all-- yep, vision’s fading too, probably not good.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Rouge shot back.

Sonic stiffened straight up. He placed his hands on his hips, no longer appearing in the slightest bit of pain.

“Well, it’s interesting you should ask!” he says.

Rouge rolled her eyes. 

“So,” Sonic began, “I was just starting my morning run-- seemed like a kinda ‘start at Green Hill’ kind of day-- and I’m running along--” He gestured down the path he’d just ran. “And who do I see but my good friend and confirmed crook Rouge the Bat, about to break down someone’s door. For what I can only assume is a completely rational reason.”

Rouge’s face flushed scarlet.

“I know how it looks, but--”

He waved one hand dismissively.

“Yeah yeah, take your time to explain.” Suddenly, before Rouge could blink, there was a blue, blurry whoosh and in less than a second, Sonic was there again, holding a phone that he certainly didn’t have before. He started pressing on the screen. “Just gonna call the police about something else.”

Rouge snatched it out of his hands.

“Quit it!” She tossed the phone over her shoulder. “Besides, it's not like that’d do any good.” She gave a wry smile and put her hands on her hips. “I am, after all, a GUN agent of some standing.”

“Like I said, confirmed crook.”

“You--” She tightened her fists. “ _I don’t have time for this.”_ She poked a gloved finger in Sonic’s chest. “I’m not breaking in anywhere! This isn’t just any house. It’s _Shadow’s_ house.”

Sonic’s grin dropped.

“Shadow?” Sonic looked at the house, tilting his head. “Really? I kinda expected something more ...” Sonic waggled his fingers. “ _Gothic_.”

“Well, then you can thank me for picking the venue for him, but that’s beside the point--”

“You _picked out_ where he lived? What are you, his mom now?”

Rouge’s entire face went red.

“That’s--” How long had it been since Rouge the Bat, the spy, the thief, the femme fatale had actually stammered? She didn’t even remember.“You--That’s not--”

Sonic chuckled, pleased with himself. It was _infuriating_.

“Boy, I should go get Knuckles down here.” Sonic said. “Someone’d be jeellous--”

She couldn’t take it anymore. Rouge gripped Sonic by the shoulder and jerked him towards her. She was only an inch from his face. The wide-eyed stare and welcome silence of the hedgehog told Rouge she must have _looked_ as furious as she _felt_.

“Shadow isn’t answering my calls and now he’s not coming to the door and _he definitely didn’t leave_.”

Sonic’s smile was gone. His eyes narrowed slightly.

“You think something’s wrong?” he said.

“Yes, finally, two of those brain cells finally clacked together! Now help me get in--”

Before Rouge could finish, Sonic lunged forward. He dove to the ground, rolling for a moment before he doubled-over so fast he appeared to be a blurry blue ball. His quills buzzed as they cut through the air as he shot forward with greater speed, smashing into the wooden door with a loud crash. An explosion of wooden splinters, sawdust, and stray glass went everywhere. Rouge barely had time to yell as she shielded herself with her arm, though thankfully no debris hit her. 

When the chaos paused, she slowly lowered her arm to look. Sonic stood where a doorway _used_ to be, now just a hole surrounded by jagged, uneven wooden planks in the front of the house. Sonic looked around for a moment ... then slowly walked toward the scratched, splintered wood and knocked twice.

“ _Hello_?! Shadow? We’re here now,” Sonic called, one hand to the side of his mouth. He turned to Rouge, shrinking his head into his shoulders. “I uh ... might have knocked a little too hard.”

“ _You think?_ ” Rouge shouted. “You ...

Rouge stopped, finally hearing faint scuffles of movement. She looked up just as Shadow’s bedroom door opened. There were bags under his eyes--well he always had bags under his eyes, but more so-- and a blank look on his face. 

Rouge’s breath hitched. _He was alright ..._ she thought relieved. However, a moment later, that relief melted into anger. _He was alright?!_

Shadow didn’t even notice Rouge’s presence, or if he did, he didn’t show it. Instead his eyes seemed to gloss over the damage apathetically before settling on Sonic.

“Oh Sonic,” Shadow said, devoid of emotion. “Good to see you.” He turned around and walked back into the room. “Hold on, _let me get my gun_.”

“Whoa whoa _whoa_ , settle down buddy!” Sonic smiled uneasily and held up his hands. “I know I did _kinda_ destroy half your house, but it was just to check on you. When you think about it, it was from a place of love and understanding, and isn’t that what’s really--”

There was a loud metallic _click_ inside the room.

“ _Well_ , I can see you’re upset, I’ll just see myself out--” Sonic slowly inched backwards.

Rouge’s hand clenched into a fist. Her fangs gritted together so tightly she thought they’d crack. She trembled, unable to hold it in anymore.

“SHADOW, YOU _IDIOT_!”

Suddenly, Shadow appeared back in the doorway, eyes widened.

“What?” he said. Rouge was astonished. He wasn’t even being sarcastic by the look on his face, he _genuinely_ didn’t know, the moron.

She stomped forward, heels digging into the dirt. When she passed the ruined threshold, her stomps bored and scuffed the hardwood floors.

Sonic turned to Rouge as she passed. His mouth was opening before Rouge shot him a glare and he promptly shut it.

Shadow didn’t move, only staring.

Rouge reached out and grabbed him by the white fur on his neck, jerking him forward.

“You were _fine_ this entire time?!” she shouted.

“I ...” Shadow’s surprise faded as he averted his gaze. He frowned. “Fine is a relative term, Rouge.”

“You know what I mean!” she screamed. “Did you just _not_ hear me shouting outside your door for _twenty minutes_?!”

Shadow’s eyes shot back to hers. The intensity distracted Rouge just long enough for Shadow to firmly, but not harshly, push her hand away.

“I was ... indisposed,” he said.

“ _Indisposed_ ?” She shoved Shadow, nearly sending him tumbling back into his room. “You’re as fast as Sonic and you were too _indisposed_ to take the tenth of a second it would take to come to the door or, you know, just say ‘I’m fine’?!”

“Uh,” Sonic raised his finger. “I wouldn’t say he’s _as_ fast, maybe pretty close but--”

“ _You shut up_ !” Rouge said before turning back to Shadow. “What _exactly_ was the problem?”

Shadow met her eyes, then scoffed.

“ _Nothing_.”

Rouge, noticing his evasiveness, softened.

“Were you in one of your moods again?” she asked.

Shadow didn’t reply, which was as much of a _yes_ as Rouge ever got from him. She let out a heavy sigh.

“Shadow, this is getting serious,” she said. “I thought getting you a place out of the way from everyone would give you time to think and I know that's what you said you wanted but ... this doesn’t seem to be helping. You need to be around people.”

Shadow groaned, shook his head, and started past her.

“Don’t walk away from me!” she shouted.

“Fine. I felt like running anyway,” he said.

“Oh don’t be that way!”

His boots activated, floating him just an inch or so above the ground. He began to rush towards the front of the house ... until there was a blue blur and Sonic appeared in his path.

“Hey now! Hold up a minute!” Sonic said, holding his hand up..

Shadow grunted as he skidded to a stop before he could truly get moving.

“Are you going to move or do I have to go _through_ you?” Shadow said.

“Yeah yeah, you’re edgy, we know,” Sonic said with a casual wave. “Now, I may not know all of what’s going on--”

“As per usual.”

“And I know we haven’t talked in a while for some reason--”

“Hatred, primarily.”

“But! I’m getting the sense Rouge is genuinely concerned about you. And I am too! I mean I spindashed into your house just to make sure you weren’t hurt or something.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes and waved towards the damage to his home.

“And look at all the _good_ that’s brought me,” he grumbled. “This was _certainly_ what I wanted.”

“Well, what _do_ you want?”

“I--” Shadow started, then fell silent. As the silence grew, his features relaxed. Rouge approached, able to see he wasn’t angry anymore, just ... tired. Finally Shadow just mumbled, “... I don’t know.”

Rouge reached out to touch his shoulder, but he shirked away. Awkwardly she retracted her hand.

Sonic, undeterred, zoomed in front of Shadow again.

“Well! Admitting that is the first step towards feeling better.”

“Is the second step also _you leaving me alone and minding your own business_?” Shadow snapped.

“Noooot even close.”

“... _super_.”

“Just let me make a quick phone call.” There was a flurry of movement and suddenly he had his phone to his ear. “Hopefully this won’t be too awkward ...”

* * *

“Cream, this is it,” Amy proclaimed as she thumped the large box on the floor of her pink walled bedroom. She pulled out a marker and wrote SONIC on it. “Time for me to finally put the past behind me!”

“Right!” Cream said with a smile. She flapped her ears to propel her towards and tore down the poster of Sonic with the old Freedom Fighters off her wall (Sonic’s arm was wrapped around _that princess_ in that one but Amy didn’t dwell on it; that was a long time ago after all) before tossing it in the box. Cheese, her faithful Chao, was already in Amy’s closet, rummaging through clothes and mementos.

“No more pining after Sonic all the time!” Amy said, pumping her fist in the air. “No more not taking a hint for Amy Rose! It’s time to move on! Be capable! Have a positive mental attitude!”

“Yep, and no more angry outbursts!” Cream said sweetly.

“ _No more angry outbursts_!” Amy agreed. “New year, new me!”

Cheese threw various Sonic-related mementos Amy had held onto in the box: old framed newspapers from Sonic defeating Chaos as Super Sonic, a wanted poster from when he was wanted for capture by GUN because they confused him for Shadow despite him clearly being a _completely different_ hedgehog, a broken piece of Metal Madness from when Metal Sonic turned into an even bigger scarier robot and nearly killed everyone, all of them precious memories ...

Amy shut her eyes and shook her head. _No_ , she thought. No one ever said this would be easy. Sacrifices had to be made, after all...

“Oh Amy, what about this?” Cream said. She pulled out a green dress with a orange skirt. It was clearly old and no longer Amy’s size.

“What?!” Amy shouted, aghast. “No! That’s what I wore when I first met Son--”

Cream tilted her head with a frown.

Amy bit her lip then sighed. “No ... no, you’re right,” she said.

“Are you sure? You seem upset--”

“ _Look_!” Amy raised her voice an octave, but Cream wincing reflexively gaver her pause. “I--I mean no, it’s totally fine.” She forced a smile. “Besides, I said I was through chasing after that no good--”

There was a loud chime as the phone on her floral bedspread lit up. Amy casually picked up the phone, but her eyes went wide as she saw the name on the display.

“--SONIC?!” She frantically mashed on the screen, missing the answer button several times before she finally hit her mark. She fumbled the phone to her ear. “Sonic?! _You’re calling me_?”

“Uh ... yeah,” Sonic said. “Hi Amy.”

That was definitely his voice. This was real. She was calling him. She grinned so wide her cheeks hurt.

Cream sat on the dresser and gave a concerned look, but Amy was too excited to care.

She flopped backwards on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“What can I do for you, Sonic~” she said in a singsong voice.

“Yeeeeaaaah, this is as awkward as I thought,” Sonic said. He cleared this throat. “Look, I need a favor.”

“Oh, _anything!”_ Amy said. 

Through half lidded eyes, she saw Cheese float over to Cream and put their hands over her ears, shooting Amy a glare. Amy rolled her eyes and mouthed “ _grow up”_ to the Chao.

“Well .. okay, this is gonna be a weird request,” he said. 

“ _Nothing_ is too weird for Amy Rose!”

Sonic paused. “Okay yeah, moving right on past that ... sooo you’re really good at keeping up with everyone and, well, everyone kinda gets along with you--”

“Oh, you flatterer. You know all my best traits.”

He snickered. “Glad to see you’re as modest as ever.”

“ _You’re welcome!_ ”

“No I was being-- nevermind. Let’s just cut to the chase--”

“Yes, lets! I was thinking dinner at five--”

“No, no, I was-- so I ran into Shadow today and he’s in a bit of a funk, and I think we all need to kinda help pull him out of it.”

Amy frowned, blinking in confusion.

“I’m ... not following.”

“Well, like I said, everyone really likes you so--”

Amy shot up in bed.

“Wait, you don’t want me to _date Shadow_ , do you?!”

“What?!” Sonic said. “No! I ...” He paused and faded out, as if turning away from the receiver. “ _You don’t, right?_ ”

Simultaneously, she heard both Shadow and Rouge the Bat shout “ **NO**!” on the end.

“Alright, that’s a no,” Sonic added.

Amy squeezed her phone like a vice. The plastic casing began to crack. As if he could somehow sense the anger, Sonic hastily continued.

“But I know you know everyone really well! And I thought, well ... maybe you could help me get together some of our friends who’d be cool to hang out with him? Like ... find some way to help us arrange some play dates for him or something?”

She heard Shadow in the background yell, “ _Don’t call it a play date, I’m not an infant!_ ”

“Don’t be rude, Shadow,” said Rouge.

Shadow grumbled something too low for Amy to make out.

Amy blinked.

“So ... that’s the only reason you called?” she said slowly. “None of that stuff about my good traits before was flirting?”

“Not as such, no.”

“I see.” She felt her face get hot, but she kept her posture rigid. She steadied her voice. “Would you excuse me just a moment, Sonic?”

“Ooookay.”

Amy sat the phone down and slowly rose to her feet. She strode past Cream and Cheese, both looking with concern that she refused to acknowledge. She entered the closet and returned with her large yellow hammer, dangling with one hand, twirling it in little circles that would have been playful were it not for the cold look in her eyes. She stopped in front of the SONIC box and let out a growl as she raised it over her head.

“Amy! Calm down!” Cream said, shrinking down into her shoulders. Cheese put a hand to their mouth. “Remember your breathing exercises!”  
  
“GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Amy smashed the hammer down. There was a loud SMASH as glass shattered in the box. Amy raised the hammer again and swung it down again, and again and again, the crashing noises going from loud to just small crumples as her strength and anger faded.

She exhaled tiredly. She tossed the hammer down with a thud and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Then she walked back over to the bed and picked up the phone, breaking into a sweet smile.

“Sorry about that!” She said, cheerfully. “You didn’t hear any of that, did you?”

“The horrifying smashing sounds clearly coming from one of your episodes? No, not at all.”

“ _Great_ !” She giggled. “To answer your question, yes, I would love to help Shadow. It’s always nice when I get to help a _real_ gentleman _._ ”

“Uh ... yeah. Okay,” Sonic said.

“Let me see what I can do and I’ll call you later today. Once I get something organized, I’m sure we can get him back to his old self in no time.”

“... well no, you see, his old self is the problem, we want him not like-- _ow_! Okay yeah, you see Shadow?! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”

“Alright, well, you let him know I have this handled.”

“Great. And Amy?”

Amy allowed her false grin to drop.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

Amy’s throat got dry, but she just smiled.

“... no problem,” she said.

There was a beep and the call ended. Amy let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Cream, still sitting on the dresser, looked at the crumpled box of shattered glass, then at Amy.

“Amy, don’t take this the wrong way, but I think perhaps you’re not as over Mr. Sonic as you might believe,” she said.

“ _Really_?” she said with a resigned sigh. “Maybe this is more of a work-in-progress ...”

* * *

“Alright! We got a game plan going!” Sonic said, tossing his phone in the air and snatching it back out just as it began to descend. “Some social interaction will get you feeling better in no time.”

Shadow scowled at him.

Sonic blinked. “Maybe work on that smile. People tend to like it better when you smile.”

“ _I’ll try to keep that in mind_ ,” Shadow said. “Now if you’d please ... _go away_ so I can attempt to repair my home.”

“Need a ha--”

“No, I do not.” Shadow turned his back to Sonic, acting as if he was paying close attention to the hole in the house as he waited for Sonic to take the hint.

“Alllll-right. I guess I’ll let you know if Amy comes up with anything. So ... take care! Cheer up, buddy.”

There was a woosh, the faint smell of grass burning from friction, and then nothing. Shadow waited before finally letting out a relieved sigh.

“Finally ...” he mumbled. He glanced around, just to make sure he was far out of sight ... only to see Rouge right behind him. He flinched. In all the annoyance of Sonic being, well, _Sonic_ , he’d nearly forgotten she was there.

She stared at him in ... astonishment? Surprise? Shadow wasn’t sure. Either way it made him uneasy.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing I’m just ... well ...” Rouge shrugged before giving a smile. “I’m proud of you.”

“ _What_?”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to _actually_ go along with any of that. Knowing you actually want to have some relationship with others even if it is, you know ...” She wrinkled her nose and waved her hand as if shoeing away dust. “... _Sonic’s friends_. It at least shows you’re trying.”

Shadow wasn’t sure what to say. Mainly because he _hadn’t_ intended to go along with any of that. His plan had been to dodge any calls from Sonic or his friends until the fake hedgehog’s _exhausting_ energy hopefully led him to some other distraction. But now that Rouge said _that_ , and knowing everything she’d done for him with remarkably little to show for it ...

He sighed.

“I suppose I have to go through with it then ...” he mumbled.

“Of course,” Rouge agreed. She gave a pout, but without taking her eyes off him. “Unless you wanted to make me _sad_.”

“Wait a ...” Shadow folded his arms. “Of course ... you _knew_ I was going to dodge this and now you’re trying to guilt me into going through with it, aren’t you?”

Rouge twisted away dramatically, but didn’t turn away far enough that he couldn’t see her sly smirk.

“I can’t believe you, Shadow!” she said, her voice projecting hurt overly theatrically. “ _How could you believe such hurtful things about me?_ After all we’ve been through! I might cry.”

“This is manipulative.”

She turned so her face was in profile, one eye fixed on him. “But you’re still going to do it, right?”

Shadow furrowed his brow. He hated to admit it, but Rouge was right. Even though she was joking around, even though she was _intentionally_ guilting him, there was some truth in it. He wasn’t willing to disappoint her like that. He had to go through with it now.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be _happy_ about it.

“This is low, you know that?” he said.

Rouge twirled around, leaning forward with a grin.

“I’m a _spy_ , Shadow.” Her smile became less mischievous and more genuine. “And I think it’ll be good for you.”

“... _fine._ I’ll try this.” Then he added, “But no promises.”

“Of course.” Rouge reached out and lightly touched his shoulder. “Thank you.”

Shadow, surprised by the contact, said nothing. He only gave a small grunt in the affirmative.

“I’ll take that as ‘you’re welcome.’” Rouge turned away, her wings flapping. “Besides ...” she called as she leapt in the air to take flight. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

* * *

Eggman sat at his massive desk inside his quarters on his beloved Egg Carrier. He thumbed his fingers, ignoring the constant hum of the jet engines and the various clanks and tings echoing throughout the ship as his robots went about their duties. His quarters were dark, lit by nothing but the three holoscreens hovering in front of his desk, showing the various feeds that held his attention: a POV feed showing the War Room of GUN; a real time menu showing the time estimates for the manufacture of his latest order of Swatbots, Robotizers, and weaponry; and finally, a birds-eye view from one of his Egg-Drones showing the Green Hills from hundreds of meters in the air ... and the infuriating blue gnat zooming through it.

Yes, a gnat. That suited him. An annoying pest. One best squashed under the doctor’s _boot_.

Or turned into a robot gnat. Or turned into a robot gnat and _then_ squashed under the doctor’s boot. Yes, Eggman considered. He would quite like that. That way he could rebuild him just to squash him all over again. A boot stomping on a hedgehog’s face, forever.

“Hm-hm.... _AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_!” Eggman laughed to himself.

“Um, sir?”

The doctor went rigid then whipped around, only to see the glowing blue slit-like eyes of one of his personal assistants, Orbot.

“ _Ack_ ! What is it, Orbot?!” shouted Eggman. “ _Can’t you see that I’m busy?_ ”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you laughing madly into the void, master,” Orbot said.

“ _Well, be more mindful of that next time_ !” Eggman barked. He clapped twice and the fluorescent lights overhead clicked on. He folded his arms and stared at Orbot. “ _Well_?!”

“Oh ... yes master.” As Orbot spoke, the doctor’s other assistant Cubot, a yellow square shaped robot rolled in to idle at Orbot’s side. “I just thought you'd like to know our precautionary diagnostics indicate the Egg Carrier 2’s stealth capabilities are continuing to operate at optimum-efficiency!”

“Of course they are! I designed them, didn’t I? Are you implying you were expecting otherwise?”

“ _Not at all, master_!” Orbot said, stiffening.

Cubot twisted his square head towards him. “But I thought you said--”

Orbot reflexively slapped Cubot’s head so it swiveled three hundred-sixty degrees before settling back in place, his blue eyes blinking one and off. A moment later, his voice clicked and in a slightly chipper tone he says, “Ooh, I think I just rebooted.”

Eggman rested his chin on his hand. “And what of Shadow?” he asked.

“Um ...” Orbot’s digital eyes darted around. “I’m afraid he has not returned your voicemail. Egg-Drone monitoring indicates he’s recently made contact with GUN agent Rouge the Bat as well as Sonic. He could have warned them--”

“No,” Eggman said, shaking his head. “Shadow isn’t much of a talker. It’s honestly my favorite quality about him. He has the emotional availability of a machine ... which is to say, _none_.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment and not a massively insensitive comment to say in our prescience, master!” Orbot said, voice straining a bit.

“Yes ...” Eggman went on, ignoring Orbot’s comment. “I’m a bit disappointed he isn’t joining in our efforts. I’m not _surprised_ , though part of me wonders why I couldn’t convince him otherwise.”

“Perhaps you could try improving your social skills, master,” Orbotsaid, clasping his metal hands together. “Trying to put on a more polite exterior?”

“Yeah!” Cubot said. “That way maybe people other than the robots you’ve built will actually enjoy talking to you!”

Eggman scowled. Orbot’s eyes darted and he slowly drifted away from Cubot. The doctor’s gaze lingered on Cubot before he pressed a button under his desk. In an instant, one of the lights in the ceiling flashed red and shot a thin red laser at Cubot. It connected in between his eyes, giving a small _ping_ as it knocked his head from his body and landed on the floor.

“I’m sorry, what was that you were just saying, Cubot?” Eggman said, jovially.

“Um ...” Cubot’s head thought for a moment. “I think maybe everyone else is just too judgemental of you?”

“Ah yes! Excellent insight, Cubot! That’s just the kind of honest feedback I keep you around for.”

Eggman swiveled in his chair and tented his fingers together.  
  
“No matter,” the doctor went on, “even without Shadow’s assistance, my plan cannot fail this time. If necessary, we can always activate our Ace in the Hole as a calculated risk.”

Orbot _shuddered_.

“But either way,” Eggman continued, “it’s foolproof this time. The net is already in place and all we have to do is spring the trap.”

“... there was a net?” Cubot said, trying to force his head to roll and, being shaped like a cube, not having much luck. His body circled around, searching for his head. “Nobody told me there was a net.”

“It was a metaph-- _shut up_ !” Eggman shouted. “The point is, this time I’m going to win. Mha...MHA...MHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH _AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_!”

He laughed and laughed ... until he sputtered out a cough before taking a labored breath. He looked at Orbot and Cubot, the latter’s body having just grasped his head and shoved it on his body upside down..

“Um ... did you still need us here, master?” Orbot asked awkwardly.

“ _No_ ! When I laugh maniacally, it is implied that’s the end of the conversation, at which point you are dismissed silently so as to properly punctuate my speech for dramatic effect, _how many meetings do we have to have about this_?”

“My apologies, sir! We’ll try harder next time.”

“ _See that you do_ ...”


End file.
